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Friday, September 25, 2009

Well, first there was Miladin Kovacevic, the 6'9" Serbian thug that beat a fellow student into a coma before fleeing the country. Then, there was Malik Alvin, a 6'0" point guard who knocked over a 66 year old woman (giving her a concussion) while running from Walmart security after trying to steal a box of Magnum condoms.

It got so bad that America East coaches blackballed DJ Rivera, who led the league in scoring at 20.2 ppg and was top 10 in rebounds, assists, and FG%, from the all-conference team.

All of this happened at least six months ago, so what brought on Mushnick's claim that the Bearcats are UNLV East?Emanuel "Tiki" Mayben, who was arrested for slinging rock instead of dishing the rock (terrible joke, apologies).

Once considered a blue chip recruit, Mayben was affiliated with Syracuse, UMass, and Hudson Valley Community College before ending up at Binghamton. He was a key member of last season's NCAA Tournament team as he started and averaged 11.5 ppg and 4.2 apg for Kevin Broadus.

Tiki Mayben, who was arrested on crack cocaine charges, was in the running for the nation's best unibrow.(photo credit: Binghamton Sports)

So now the question ... will be asked again about Binghamton’s success: Is it worth it? Binghamton won the America East tournament last season and qualified for the N.C.A.A. tournament for the first time in the university’s history.

“It seems like we don’t learn any lessons here,” said Dennis Lasser, a former faculty athletic representative at Binghamton and an associate professor in its school of management. “It’s sad for a school like Binghamton. Why should we have to be dealing with this kind of stuff? I guess you can almost rationalize it for a school bringing in millions to support an entire athletic program. I personally wouldn’t support it. But at Binghamton? We have 5,000 seats and $10 a ticket. What are we doing here?”

I'm all for giving troubled kids a second, and even a third, chance. But, at some point, when so many stories end in failure across national headlines, isn't it time to change your recruiting strategy?

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